Bruins digging deep

Add Matt Grzelcyk and Tommy Cross to the growing list of defensemen needed to ensure a complete roster for Game 3 of the Bruins’ opening-round series against the Ottawa Senators (7 p.m., NESN, 98.5 FM).

To run it down, Adam McQuaid fell out of Game 2 in Ottawa and did not practice Sunday or appear in today’s morning skate at TD Garden. Brandon Carlo did not skate, Colin Miller did, and there is nothing better than a game-time decision coming from coach Bruce Cassidy on any player recently sidelined including center David Krejci.

Torey Krug (right leg) and Carlo (suspected concussion protocol) were lost in the penultimate and regular-season finale, respectively. Neither has played in the series, and it’s fairly certain that Krug will not.

Zdeno Chara, he of a cruel twist of fate that unofficially led to Dion Phaneuf’s overtime goal that completed an Ottawa comeback far more disturbing by the fade-away of Boston’s forwards over the course of a third period into which they had taken a 3-1 lead, has been the best blue-line value in the NHL this season. So terrible shame the game had to end that way.

Meantime, every player inserted, from Charlie “Tin Puck” McAvoy to Joe “Are you sure you’re not Ken? It’s been so long” Morrow, has performed admirably. Kevan Miller is the No. 2 defenseman on a team that got its road split.

What comes next after a Canadian Press article on the cbc.ca website today with the headline, “Senators know it’s not time to celebrate just yet” is anyone’s guess.

It’s a really good time (and a really bad one) to pour over playoff history and find that comforting stat, the one that eases tension.

It’s funny how the Bruins’ playoff experience can be so Cup half-full and, at the same time, so indignant toward the opponent. Neither of these teams are in a position to make a serious run, but winning a round and facing a Cup contender in round two is enough to make believers, however naive. But that’s the beauty of it: The happiest fans in 2011 weren’t the old fogies who came out of the woodwork wearing their O’Reilly 24 jerseys, it was those who were around for the worst of it before the Bruins got good again. And the fans who have stayed the course or at least had their hockey imaginations captured by David Pastrnak are ones who with a win tonight might think unrealistic thoughts, but who will enjoy it the most the day this team does get back over the top.

Meantime, it’s like 1982 against the Stastny brothers and the Quebec Nordiques, when Barry Pederson was a rising star, Rick Middleton was in his prime, Tom Fergus and Mike Krushelnyski and the Crowder bros. were players to be excited about, Brad Park was old and Ray Bourque was injured. A lot going on, mixing generations and overlapping eras, and still getting all worked up over it.

BOSTON – Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney announced today, April 17, that the team has recalled defensemen Tommy Cross and Matt Grzelcyk on an emergency basis from the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Cross, 27, who has served as Captain for Providence the past two seasons, has skated in 74 games with the P-Bruins in 2016-17, compiling 12 goals and 23 assists for a career-high 35 points with 69 penalty minutes and a plus-18 rating. He appeared in 64 games with Providence in 2015-16, recording three goals and 20 assists for 23 points with 97 penalty minutes. Cross also saw his first NHL action in 2015-16, appearing in three games with Boston and registering his first career NHL point, an assist in the Bruins’ 5-3 win at Arizona on October 17, 2015. In his AHL career, the 6-foot-3, 205-pound defenseman has played in 291 games with Providence, amassing 23 goals and 75 assists for 98 points with 330 penalty minutes and a plus-35 rating.

The Simsbury, Connecticut native was selected by the Bruins in the second round (35th overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

Grzelcyk, who is in his first professional season with the Bruins organization in 2016-17, made his NHL debut on Wednesday, December 14 at Pittsburgh, and also played in the team’s game vs. Anaheim on Thursday, December 15. He has also skated in 70 games with Providence this year, posting six goals and 26 assists for 32 points with 18 penalty minutes and a plus-13 rating.

Grzelcyk served as Captain of the Boston University Terriers for the second straight season in 2015-16, finishing the year with 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points with 36 penalty minutes and a plus-17 rating in 27 games. The 23-year-old defenseman was also named a Hockey East First-Team All-Star for the second consecutive season. In 2014-15, Grzelcyk skated in 41 games, recording 10 goals and 28 assists for 38 points with 36 penalty minutes and a plus-32 rating. In addition to serving as captain and being named a Hockey East First-Team All-Star, he earned CCM First-Team All-American honors and was fourth in the nation in points per game among defenseman (0.95). Over his four-year collegiate career, the 5-foot-10, 175-pound blueliner appeared in 124 games for Boston University, tallying 26 goals and 68 assists for 94 points.

Grzelcyk represented the United States in international play on three separate occasions. At the Under-20 World Junior Championships in 2014, he served as an assistant captain and posted two goals and four assists for six points in five games. Grzelcyk also skated in six games and tallied one assist at the Under-18 World Junior Championships in 2012. At the Under-17 World Hockey Championships in 2011, he appeared in five games and scored one goal and added five assists for six points.

The Charlestown, Massachusetts native was selected by the Bruins in the third round (85th overall) of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

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Blog Author

Mick Colageo

Mick Colageo grew up in East Walpole, Mass., skating on Coburn's Pond and at 4 Seasons Arena. He has been writing about hockey since 1986 and covering the Bruins since 1991, is a voting member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, and ... Read Full